Weird National Briefs (61)
Being neighborly
SEATTLE - Sheriff’s deputies say a man angry at his neighbors went on a rampage in a bulldozer on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, damaging four homes, knocking one off its foundation, and cutting power to thousands of people.
Barry Alan Swegle was booked into the Clallam County Jail for investigation of malicious mischief following the incident Friday. A voice mail message left at a phone listing for the 51-year-old was not immediately returned.
Life’s rich pageant – with gerbils
BEDFORD, Massachusetts - The American Gerbil Society’s annual pageant brought dozens of rodents scurrying to Bedford, Massachusetts, this weekend for a chance to win “top gerbil.”
The competition called for agility demonstrations in which the gerbils must overcome obstacles and race to the end of a course. Breeders of the small animals vie for coveted ribbons based on body type and agility.
Party of the century
SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. - A Tampa Bay-area community is looking for more centenarians to try and break a world record.
The chamber of commerce in Sun City Center is hosting a Centenarian Birthday Party on March 27. South Bay Hospital is organizing the event and hopes to break the record for the largest gathering of people 100 years old and older.
The hospital’s spokeswoman tells The Tampa Tribune that the current record of 28 was set in the United Kingdom during a 2009 tea party.
Trial texting
SALEM, Ore. - A judge in Oregon noticed an unexpected glow on a juror’s chest while the courtroom lights were dimmed during video evidence in an armed-robbery trial.
The juror, it seemed, was texting.
Marion County Circuit Judge Dennis Graves cleared the courtroom and excused all jurors except 26-year-old Benjamin Kohler.
According to a news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, Kohler had no explanation for his actions.
Jurors in Oregon are given explicit instructions at the outset of each trial not to use cellphones in court.
Walking the walk
IONIA, Mich. - A Michigan judge whose smartphone disrupted a hearing in his own courtroom has held himself in contempt and paid $25 for the infraction.
The Sentinel-Standard of Ionia and MLive.com report Judge Raymond Voet has a posted policy at Ionia County 64A District Court. It states that electronic devices causing a disturbance during court sessions will result in the owner being cited with contempt.
Crappy currency
HELENA, Mont. - A Montana man whose 12-year-old golden retriever ate five $100 bills hopes to be reimbursed by the federal government.
Wayne Klinkel tells the Independent Record that his dog Sundance ate the bills while he and his wife were on a road trip to visit their daughter.
Klinkel says he carefully picked through the dog’s droppings, and his daughter recovered more when snow melted.
Send in the clowns
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Streets Department was using mimes and clowns to remind pedestrians and drivers to not be fools _ on April 1 or any other day.
The city last year painted a gag “texting lane” on a street near City Hall last year as a not-so-subtle reminder that pedestrians who keep their noses buried in their cell phones should keep their eyes on the roads and sidewalks instead.
Can I crash here?
ALOHA, Ore. - One unlucky Aloha home has been the crash-landing site of two different people suspected of drunken driving.
In the first crash, on Wednesday, Washington County sheriff’s deputies came upon the crash scene and arrested the driver on DUI charges, but the home didn’t sustain any damage and no one was injured.
Party of the century
SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. - A Tampa Bay-area community is looking for more centenarians to try and break a world record.
The chamber of commerce in Sun City Center is hosting a Centenarian Birthday Party on March 27. South Bay Hospital is organizing the event and hopes to break the record for the largest gathering of people 100 years old and older.
Signed, sealed, delivered
PORTLAND, Maine - A young seal somehow wandered up a steep embankment and crossed four lanes of traffic to make an unexpected appearance at the entrance of Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine.
Mike Therrian, who was shoveling snow, says he saw the seal under an awning and thought it might be someone bundled under a blanket Friday morning. Instead, he says it was a 30-inch-long gray seal.
Hospital security was alerted, and a marine mammal expert was dispatched.
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